Ilyas Akhmadov

Ilyas Akhmadov (19 December 1960-) was Foreign Minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria from 29 July 1999.

Biography
Ilyas Khamzatovich Akhmadov was born in the Kazakh SSR of the Soviet Union in 1960, and his family returned to Chechnya in 1962. After graduating from college in 1981, he served in the Soviet Army's Strategic Missile Forces, and he worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria following his country's independence from Russia in 1991. He was wounded during the First Chechen War, and he retired to private life in 1996; he was appointed Foreign Minister in 1999. However, he decided to seek asylum in the United States during the Second Chechen War; as he opposed suicide bombings and hostage-takings, held moderate views, and supported peace talks with Russia. In 2004, a judge in Boston ruled in favor of granting him asylum.